1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic networks having a plurality of client or agent terminals or systems, and more particularly to networks having one or more printers used by computers or other printer users within the network.
2. History of the Prior Art
Electronic networks are known in which a plurality of client terminals or systems are coupled to the network and communicate with each other. The client terminals can comprise various types of systems such as a PC (personal computer), a printer, a router, a bridge, a tape drive, and the like.
While different types of protocols are possible for status monitoring and configuration of devices within an electronic network, one of the most common protocols is the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). This is an open protocol for network management applications. The protocol is of the request-response type, and is typically carried out between a manager and an agent or client. The client may send asynchronous messages or "traps" to a management application.
In a typical electronic network, a plurality of clients in the form of computers are coupled to the network together with one or more printers and an intermediate spooler. Job requests for printing are transmitted by the client computers to the spooler which then stores spooled jobs in queues in the form of a scheduling list of print jobs to be done. The spooler then routes the job request to the printer.
Most print job requests involve one-way communication in the sense that they are sent by the sending computer to the spooler using the known address of the spooler. The spooler then controls transmission of the job request to the printer. The network address of the printer is not normally known to the sending computer, so that direct communications from the sending computer to the printer are not possible. Instead, communications from the sending computer to the printer are made by way of the spooler.
Often, it becomes necessary or desirable to communicate directly with the printer, in order to accomplish special functions such as determining the configuration of the printer, the set-up of the printer or monitoring the printer. Where such occasions arise, it becomes necessary to determine the network address of the printer so that the sending computer can communicate directly with the printer. There are several ways of determining the network address of the printer, which are essentially manual in nature. One such technique is to contact the system administrator. The printer address can be determined by looking up the spool queue set-up notes. Alternatively, spooler specific utilities can be used to determine the network connection used by the queue to communicate with the printer. This technique requires different software for each spooler system type. Sometimes the printer address cannot be determined accurately, even with such software tools.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a mechanized or automated method and system within the network for determining the network address of the printer, when direct access to the printer is needed to perform specialized functions such as configuration, set-up or monitoring the printer. Such method and system should not rely upon complex hardware and should not require human intervention so as to determine the printer address such as by manual means.